Comparing Google Chrome to Mozilla Firefox

Thinking of migrating from Firefox to Google Chrome, but unsure? Here is an introduction to Chrome, and how it compares to Firefox.

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Google's Web Browser

Google has introduced a new web browser to the internet, called Chrome. Chrome is a highly anticipated effort from Google and has set the internet community on fire. In the web browser industry, companies are constantly trying to find the fastest and easiest technology. Google is always on the cutting edge of this type of technology, so it comes as no surprise that Chrome, still in Beta, is testing better than expected. Chrome is simply faster than its competition, and it's installation is seamless.

Although Chrome is perhaps infinitely better than Microsoft's Internet Explorer, it's true competition is with Mozilla Firefox. Because Microsoft loads its browser on all computers using Windows, it's unlikely that the average user will go beyond this default. The marketplace for Chrome is with the more advanced internet user, who has long since left IE in the dust. Most Firefox users were won over by the highly customizable design Mozilla offers. Firefox offers many extensions that allow the user to create a precise web browsing experience, and the list is constantly expanding. Chrome itself acknowledges that its borrowed elements from Firefox. Let's compare Chrome to Firefox.

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Differences in Installation

If you're using Firefox, no doubt you probably had to download it from Internet Explorer. The transition from IE to Firefox is a rocky one, especially when you take into account the moving of your bookmarks, browsing history and passwords. Although Firefox makes it easier to bare, there are lots of prompts you have to click through. With Chrome, download, installation and migration of bookmarks is done within 3 minutes. It was very hassle-free, and as soon as I opened Chrome, all my bookmarks were exactly where I left them.

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Design

Like Google's homepage, Chrome is very minimal. The browser is designed to be out of the way so that the user only sees the site, not the browser. There is no status bar, no menu bar, no search box. The tabs are above the address bar (as opposed to Firefox, where the tabs are below the address bar). Chrome comes in Google's trademark baby blue color, but hackers have already created ways to change the color of the browser. Chrome is to Firefox what Firefox was to IE: it looks less cumbersome than its predecessor.

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Speed of Chrome Compared to Firefox

Chrome is super fast. Compared to Firefox, Chrome is twice as fast in JavaScript. It loads websites in lightning speed. The average user will experience almost instanteous web browsing.

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Smarter Features

Chrome's address bar is called "omnibar" because you can type in the url or search keywords in the same place. It's intuitive, because it anticipates what you're typing. It's cleaner than having an address bar and a search bar side-by-side, as is the case in Firefox. Chrome also has an innovative tab feature not found in Firefox. The tabs are individual sandboxes, so that they handle processes individually. What this means for the average user is that when one of your tabs is "not responding", you can shut down that tab without having to shut down your entire browser. Although Firefox allows you to reopen all the tabs following an illegal shut down, Chrome is less of a headache because you don't have to stop what you're doing or possibly lose your work in the process. You can also detach the tabs and create a new window, and re-integrate that same tab back into the old window.

Google Chrome is a wonderful new browser that will surely evolve as even more user-friendly as the updated version continue to be released. Firefox should be scared of this new browser, because it has already become my default browser. Although Firefox has many extensions, and themes that make it appealing, the new kid on the block is adapting and taking the best features from all the major browsers and revolutionizing them. Chrone has a shiny future.